The same gesture is also associated with Akshobhya, one of the five great cosmic Buddhas central to the iconography of early Tibetan Buddhism. It alludes to his victory over the evil demon Mara, who sought to disturb his meditation, and therefore his enlightenment. The earth-touching gesture (bhumisparshamudra), a variant of which our Buddha makes with his right hand, is most frequently associated with Shakyamuni, the Historic Buddha. The identification of the statue is difficult. Few works of art from tenth-century Tibet have survived, but what does remain seems to be an eclectic synthesis of elements drawn from the artistic traditions of Central Asia, India, Nepal, and China. The robust body of this early Tibetan Buddha seems to derive from the art of the North Indian post-Gupta period (seventh to eighth century), while its physiognomy is based on Central Asian prototypes of similar date.
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